Thomas Tuchel laments Chelsea's first-half display against Tottenham

Thomas Tuchel has revealed he was not happy with his side's first-half performance during their 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

Spurs just about edged proceedings the first period in north London with N'Golo Kante's introduction at the break turning the game on its head. Goals from Thiago Silva, Kante and Antonio Rudiger followed, with Chelsea eventually securing an easy win.

Speaking after the game, Tuchel confessed that he had stern words with his players at the break.

"I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes," said Tuchel.

"There were individual performances which were great in the first half from Kepa and Thiago Silva. Even more players were good but in general we lacked intent, energy and relentlessness in duels and 50-50 balls.

"I had the feeling we wanted to impress by pure skills but in derbies like this it is not always about just skills. It is about aggression, winning duels and performing better as a team. We spoke clearly about it at half time.

"In the second half it was a very good performance and a deserved win in the second half. It was a very good reaction so I am happy with the performance in the second half."

Tuchel singled Thiago Silva out for special praise too. Not only did the 36-year-old score the opener for his side, his all-round game impressed his manager.

"It was nice that he almost scored twice. He was so strong. I am very happy for him that he was able to open the game for us.

"His performance even in the first half was outstanding. It was a fantastic performance and well deserved.”

The victory lifted Chelsea to the top of the Premier League table and Tuchel's charges also got off to a winning start in the Champions League in midweek. The German went on to reveal that he was confident of continuing to bring success this season.

"We are competitive and we want to be competitive. It is no excuse to say we are not ready. We want to produce results and we can. It’s what we want at the club. We want to win.

"We are competitive in this level to win already but we still have things to improve. The first half was proof of that. It’s good to have these hard situations now and to overcome them. We are able to produce deserved wins so it’s a good basis to keep on going."